Author Archives: Brian D. Butler

Go Medieval On Them

Medieval Memes  is a clever, fun project by  the Dutch National Library which takes illustrations from medieval manuscripts in its collection and lets anyone who wants make memes out of them to then share. The reason this is great is … Continue reading →

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I Got Up At

On Kawara was a 20th century Japanese conceptual artist who was influential in the New York art scene. Although he was widely know for his “Today” series or “Date Paintings,” many considered that the most personal and intimate of his … Continue reading →

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there is nothing on earth that forgetfulness does not fade

“Mutations” by Jorge Luis Borges Translated by Andrew Hurley In a hallway I saw a sign with an arrow pointing the way, and I was struck by the thought that that inoffensive symbol had once been a thing of iron, … Continue reading →

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A Borrowing of Librarians

 

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all the trains are gone

The illustration above, appeared in The Fatal Lozenge which was Edward Gorey’s first published “alphabet book”. In the book series, each letter of the alphabet is represented by a character which appears in a four line poem and each poem … Continue reading →

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Amazing Stories in Amazing Stories

I recently stumbled upon a link to this issue of Amazing Stories magazine from 1927. What jumped out for me was the inclusion in this issue of H.P. Lovecraft’s of The Colour Out of Space  and H.G. Wells’  The War of the Worlds. … Continue reading →

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All the misery of manilla folders and mucilage

DOLOR Theodore Roethke I have known the inexorable sadness of pencils, Neat in their boxes, dolor of pad and paper weight, All the misery of manilla folders and mucilage, Desolation in immaculate public places, Lonely reception room, lavatory, switchboard, The … Continue reading →

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The Bradbury Chronicles

As I have mentioned more than a few times over the years, I was a voracious reader of Ray Bradbury’s novels and short stories as a kid. So, I was excited to see that the American Writers Museum in Chicago … Continue reading →

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The Reader

 

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Murder At Full Moon

I don’t remember which book that I read first, Of Mice and Men or The Grapes of Wrath, but both had a lasting effect on me and made me a John Steinbeck fan. Over the years, I think that I’ve read every novel and … Continue reading →

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